‘Justice League’ movie hopes to finally bring Batman and together on screen

If teaming up worked for Iron Man, Thor and The Hulk, it has to work for Batman, , and Wonder Woman, right?

Warner Bros. Pictures seems to think so, as Variety reported yesterday that the studio has hired a new writer to bring DC Comics' "Justice League" to the big screen. Just as "The Avengers" assembled the biggest heroes from Marvel Comics, "Justice League" would see DC's iconic characters joining forces to save the world. (DC Comics is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.) The fact that "The Avengers" is now the third highest-grossing film of all time with $1.3 billion worldwide seems to have reignited the fire to get the other legendary superhero team up on movie screens.
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Variety's report states that Will Beall, who wrote the upcoming "Gangster Squad" (starring Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin) for Warner Bros., has been hired to take on the screenplay. Beall previously wrote for TV's "Castle," but he has also been announced as the writer for new movie versions of "Logan's Run" and "Lethal Weapon 5."

While interest in a "Justice League" movie has certainly been rekindled by the record-breaking success of "The Avengers," the project has been in the works for several years. Director George Miller ("Mad Max," "Happy Feet") was hired for the film in the fall of 2007, with production scheduled to begin the next year for a planned 2009 release.

The original plan was to have a completely fresh cast of actors take on the comic book roles, separate from any existing franchise. Unlike "The Avengers," where the original stars returned, this would have a different cast (so no Christian Bale as Batman). At the time, Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") was attached to play Batman, with D.J. Cotrona as , Adam Brody as the Flash, and Megan Gale as Wonder Woman.

The Writer's Guild strike in late 2007 put a halt to the project, however. The production went into an indefinite hiatus, with George Miller moving on to a new "Mad Max" reboot, which is scheduled to start filming soon. In the intervening years, Warner Bros. released the disappointing "Green Lantern," with "The Dark Knight Rises" coming this summer and the new film "The Man of Steel" slated for next June.

That wasn't the first time Warner Bros. tried and failed to get DC's heaviest hitters together in one movie. In the early 2000s, the studio developed "Batman Vs. ," which would have pitted the two heroes against each other (though in the end they would team up to take on Lex Luthor). Josh Hartnett was rumored for , with Colin Farrell considered for Batman. But that was eventually shelved in favor of Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins."

Currently, there isn't a director, cast or release date for "Justice League," but summer of 2014 seems like it would be the earliest we could expect to see it. There are also a host of individual DC superhero movies in development, including the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Lobo.

It's also unclear if Warner Bros. still plans to keep the "Justice League" as a separate continuity from the standalone movies, or integrate them the way Marvel built up to "The Avengers." When Joss Whedon, the director of "The Avengers" was asked if he had any advice for the people making "Justice League," he jokingly answered, "Call me." He followed it by saying that it's harder to bring DC characters to the screen than Marvel since they are "from an old, bygone era" where heroes were less flawed and grounded. And Whedon would know, since he tried to bring "Wonder Woman" to the screen in another project that stalled out several years ago.

UPDATE: Mark Millar, the writer who created the comic books the inspired the movies "Wanted" and "Kick-Ass," posted on his official website MillarWorld.tv that someone he knows is friends with screenwriter Will Beall and got a peek at the unfinished "Justice League" script. Millar reported that the new take on the movie is "Very real-world and not at all what you might expect." He said Beall began working on the script before "The Avengers" hit theaters, and that the "tidbits I heard sound quite dark and mature, which isn't what I expected."

Sounds like a pretty lightweight cast they had planned. That isn't going to get anybody excited. The Wonder Woman they had planned has an acting resume of three forgettable minor movies in nine years.

Perhaps, but I think JL has more "mainstream" characters then the Avengers. The quality of the movie may not equal the Avengers and Clay was right that they did a good job of the build up. I'm just stating there is a large market and demand for a JL movie.

Perhaps, but I think JL has more "mainstream" characters then the Avengers. The quality of the movie may not equal the Avengers and Clay was right that they did a good job of the build up. I'm just stating there is a large market and demand for a JL movie.

That's the biggest reason why there will be a market for this film.
People forget that these films aren't made for the average comic-book reading fanboy. They're mostly consumed by people who aren't that familiar with the source material, but...EVERYBODY knows Batman. EVERYBODY knows . That's reason enough.

__________________It's like when I'm right I'm right, when I'm wrong I could been right, so I'm still right cause I coulda been wrong.

I don't know. You might be surprised. The Justice League has had a presence on television for years.

Exactly. About 25 years ago I thought the JL cartoon was the best thing on TV since it combined all the super heros into one show. I'm guessing a lot of people in their 30's now who aren't big comic book fans like myself remember that show quite well. And of course if you have kids I'm sure you've seen the newer version.

I'm going to take the pessimistic route on this one because what made the Avengers and almost every Marvel superhero a success is how they were all true underdogs who can relate to the average inferiority complex of real people.

DC and the Justice League, OTOH, come from the perspective of "We were extraordinary individuals who became even better!" Batman is really the only one who can relate to Marvel's kind of audience...but maybe can have some potential if they play off the plot of Smallville.